Conviction

I’m thinking about conviction, because it is so rare.

A lot of people start off with conviction, but life, hardships, and other people’s opinions get in the way, and they stop believing in the greatness of their own ideas.

I’ve met intelligent types with lots of skills and advantages at their disposal. But they usually don’t know where to go with the... See more

But, then, ultimately, we get to this somewhat stark moment of conviction – a decision without certainty but with some level of instinct and belief. The work you’ve done is a big input, but then, I find there’s something else, too. It’s some combination of understanding, excitement, experience, gut, and fear. And this process repeats throughout our... See more

Conviction is the rarest resource in the world.

Not money.

Not intelligence.

Not access.

Conviction.

I’ve met a lot of people who are very intelligent and have an awesome (in the literal sense) arsenal of skills and advantages at their disposal.

But that doesn’t make them dangerous, because they usually don’t know where to go with all of this. (In fact,

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My note to self from reading the book: “THINGS LOOK GOOD AT THE END OF THE JOURNEY, NOT DURING.” Tesla and SpaceX were not built. They were willed into existence, against all odds.

SpaceX failed to launch many times, and was ridiculed by many people. After their third (or fourth) failed launch, Elon sends an email to his team: “ SpaceX is in this f... See more

Conviction is an extension of self-knowledge. It emerges from your experiences and prior conditions. To know that is to know yourself. Being someone with conviction is really just living with clarity, and everything else is downstream of this self-knowledge.

I have been aiming to discuss taking action and being decisive in two essays because there seems to be a belief that 'rationality' and mental models are all you need to succeed. Most influential people make better decisions and use thinking tools that assist them in achieving their goals more quickly.

First, become able to feel conviction even in the face of high uncertainty. Second, learn how to weigh your options so hard that by the time you've picked the best available action, no part of you has an urge to go back into "deliberation mode" until you encounter new evidence or ideas that would have changed the result of your deliberation. Third,... See more